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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869053">when we’re alone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterberry_holly/pseuds/winterberry_holly'>winterberry_holly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Disabled Character, F/M, Hot Springs &amp; Onsen, Hyuuga Neji Lives, Only One Bed, Oral Sex, Overstimulation, Porn with Feelings, Unwilling Romantic Winter Getaway, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, background Gaara/Rock Lee - Freeform, lee is fed up with neji's cowardice and he doesn't care who knows it, like very background, mostly safe sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:35:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,790</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869053</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterberry_holly/pseuds/winterberry_holly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What they had planned was a stay in a tiny, remote mountain village just beyond the border of the Land of Iron – close enough that Neji could make the journey, but far enough that they could consider it a proper vacation. A long weekend retreat in a cozy, snow-covered inn, nursing warm drinks by a fire after long days of hiking and sightseeing...</p><p>In retrospect, Neji feels rather ridiculous for not anticipating that Lee would desert them. The whole affair sounds unbearably romantic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hyuuga Neji/Tenten</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>150</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Content advisories for this chapter are few. The rating is for the next chapter; this one's relatively tame.</p><p>-mention of Neji having anxiety in the paragraph that begins with “It had taken a long, long time...”</p><p>-Neji in this story is permanently disabled due to his wartime injuries - it's not the central focus of the fic, but it does come up throughout. There are also mentions of Neji's near-death in both the paragraphs that start with "Neji has nearly met his end..." in the middle section, and " "Alas" " in the last section. Abundance of caution: there is also a brief sentiment that could be interpreted as internalized ableism on Neji’s part in the paragraph that begins with “And he has been doing”.</p><p>Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Lee,” Tenten says, a dangerous edge to her voice. “Are you seriously bailing on us </span> <span class="s2"> <em>again</em></span><span class="s1">?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ve been given a mission,” Lee replies. At least he has the good sense to look ashamed of himself while he spins this blatant lie. “You two will have to go without me.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“A mission to where? </span> <span class="s2"><em>Wind Country</em>?</span><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Privately, Neji agrees with her assessment; based on the increased number of missives Lee’s been getting from Suna lately, Neji strongly suspects that Lee’s “mission” will lead him directly into the arms of the Kazekage. It is a low blow from Tenten, though, and under typical circumstances, Neji would take this opportunity to throw an apologetic look Lee’s way.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">But Neji can’t muster up any pity for Lee in this moment, because he knows full well that Lee is not bailing. Lee is </span> <span class="s2"> <em>scheming</em></span><span class="s1">.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I do not know what you are talking about,” declares Lee.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Are you </span> <span class="s2">kidding </span> <span class="s1">me? Are you hearing this right now, Neji?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I am,” Neji says, leveling his harshest glare at Lee, but he has nothing more to say about it that won’t implicate himself, for Lee’s behavior is ultimately his fault.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It had taken Neji a long, long time to recognize the aching in his chest for what it really was, what with the persistent undercurrent of his anxiety and his injuries obscuring the diagnosis. Out of necessity, Neji had done well at keeping it quiet, locking his passions up in his heart and continuing about his life as if nothing were different. But about two months ago, lips loosened by the lateness of the hour, Neji had foolishly let slip to Lee that he <em>may</em> have a <em>bit</em> of a crush on Tenten.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Which, of course, had been an understatement so grand that he may as well call it a lie. Neji is <em>consumed</em> by Tenten.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Any normal person would have done nothing more than nod his acknowledgement and quietly allow the conversation to die (in Neji’s opinion, anyway – it’s what he generally does when people start sharing their feelings a bit too freely). But Lee is Lee, and thus he had openly wept, taken Neji into a bone-crushing embrace, and waxed poetic about springtime and youth and eternal love...</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">And </span> <span class="s2"> <em>then,</em></span><span class="s1"> he had mysteriously started to skip team lunches (“</span><span class="s2"><em>I had a previous engagement with Sakura-chan!”</em></span><span class="s1">), or “forget” day trips that he himself had planned (“</span><span class="s2"><em>I must have gotten the date wrong in my calendar! I am so mixed up lately!</em></span><span class="s1">”). Neji’s sincerely not sure that they’ll ever spend more than a few minutes at a time with Lee again, because all of these coordinated abandonments are predicated on the faulty notion that Neji intends to actually tell Tenten how he feels, and that all he needs are the right circumstances.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Laughable. Utterly ludicrous. Lee will be doing this for the rest of his days.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This particular abandonment, however, is diabolical on a level that Neji did not know Lee was capable of. What they had planned was a stay in a tiny, remote mountain village just on the border of the Land of Iron – close enough that Neji could make the journey, but far enough that they could consider it a proper vacation. A long weekend retreat in a cozy, snow-covered inn, nursing warm drinks by a fire after days of hiking and sightseeing...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In retrospect, Neji feels rather ridiculous for not anticipating that Lee would desert them. The whole affair sounds unbearably romantic.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We could have cancelled,” Tenten continues, “or we could have moved the reservation, but now–”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I didn’t </span> <span class="s2"><em>know</em> </span> <span class="s1">I was getting a mission.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Bullshit.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is it such a problem?” Lee retorts, a hint of challenge in his tone. “You two really cannot just go?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Oh, Neji is going to </span> <span class="s2"><em>kill</em> </span> <span class="s1">him.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“That’s not the point–” Neji begins, in the same breath that Tenten says, “Of course we can </span> <span class="s2"> <em>go.</em></span><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lee’s eyes meet Neji’s, triumph written across his face like he’d just taken Neji down in a spar – he knows Lee’s won, but Neji has always been a sore loser.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tenten,” Neji tries to say, refusing to acknowledge Lee’s victory over them, desperate to stop Tenten’s current train of thought. But she gives him a look – the one she makes when she’s setting her mind to something, her “help me or get out of my way” face – and just like that, all Neji wants to do is whatever she tells him to.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Back when he was on active duty, his command over both himself and his teammates was stronger. Neji outranked them, had the best mind for strategy, and while Lee and Tenten certainly didn’t just accept everything he proposed without question, he was generally considered to be in charge. After the war, however, his permanent removal from active duty had spelled the end of Team Gai as a ninja squad and the beginning of Team Gai as simply…friends.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now that they are bonded by nothing but love, the balance of power in their relationship has shifted <em>dramatically</em>. Neji had no idea how vulnerable he was to the pair of them until it was too late. With just a glance, Tenten can convince him to do nearly anything (he thinks this would be true even if he weren’t hopelessly in love with her). Lee, on the other hand, regularly plays Neji like a fiddle...primarily by playing Tenten just as well, as evidenced by her determined glare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know what, Lee? You’re right,” she says loftily. “C’mon, Neji, let’s go.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The genius of the Hyuuga clan, outmatched by no more than a pointed look and a hastily crafted challenge. It’s almost embarrassing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Safe travels,” Lee replies sweetly. “You’ll have to tell me all about it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then his door is closed, and Neji is left alone in the hall with a fuming Tenten. He’s always thought she looks so beautiful when she’s got a mind to murder someone, but she is especially breathtaking when she wants to murder the same someone he does.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t <em>believe</em> him,” Tenten continues, and then mumbles “all by ourselves” as if that in and of itself is a complete, coherent thought, one that Neji should be equally incensed by.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do you want to stay home?” he asks. He can’t decide if he wants her to say yes (and save him from the nightmare of vacationing with her alone) or no (and grant him the thrilling opportunity to vacation with her alone).</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she doesn’t reply right away, Neji adds, “We don’t have to go.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten laughs dispassionately, hitching her bag up higher on her back. “Oh, we’re going. We’re gonna have a </span> <span class="s2"> <em>good time,</em></span><span class="s1"> without </span> <span class="s2"> <em>stupid Lee,</em></span><span class="s1"> and his </span> <span class="s2"><em>stupid boyfriend</em>.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I am sure you will,” calls Lee through the door.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span><span class="s2"><em>We will,”</em> </span> <span class="s1"> Tenten snaps back unnecessarily.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">This push and pull in Neji’s heart is </span> <span class="s2">agony. </span><span class="s1">Can’t he just feel one way or the other? Does he have to feel lighter than air and horribly nauseated in the same breath?</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I suppose we should be off, then,” Neji says as nonchalantly as he can manage, white-knuckling his walking cane.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He can do this. It’s just a short trip. To a far-off romantic retreat. With no company but the woman he’s been a bit in love with for…God, he doesn’t even know how long.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He hopes Lee has a good weekend. A great weekend, even, because when (if) Neji returns, he’s going to make absolutely sure that this weekend is Lee’s last.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They arrive just before nightfall, beneath clouds that mute the sunset’s pinks and purples, turning the sky to pastels over their heads. Silhouetted against that backdrop are the mountains just beyond the little village, ornamented with barren and evergreen trees alike. A gentle snowfall dusts the thatched roofs of the houses with white, their frames like hands in prayer. Neji’s thankful for them. He needs the extra prayers as he watches Tenten marvel at the beauty of the village.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whoa,” breathes Tenten, her sigh misting in front of her parted lips, her wind-burnt cheeks a flattering pink.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He cannot do this. Is it too late to turn back?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It is lovely,” Neji agrees, forcing himself to stare out at the tableau before them instead of her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten beams at him. “See? We’re having fun already.” She pulls their map of the area from her bag and consults it. “Okay, so, the inn should be right up here somewhere…”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">They trudge through the snow to a house that’s identical to the others around it, save for the banner reading </span> <span class="s2">Hoshikuzu </span> <span class="s1">that waves in the breeze. All of the structures in this village are several hundred years old, but the age of the inn is most evident when they step into the narrow entryway; there is barely enough room for he and Tenten, let alone the plump older woman who greets them with a smile wider than the mountain range they’d crossed.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Welcome to Hoshikuzu,” the hostess says brightly. She passes each of them a pair of slippers, which they toe on once they’ve removed their snowboots. “Rock Lee?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hyuuga Neji,” he corrects. He settles into a chair against the wall and switches out the pointed tip of his cane for one less likely to scratch the wood floor.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I see.” She ducks out of sight; Neji hears papers rustling from around the corner. “I’m so sorry, I don’t think we have a reservation for a Hyuuga Neji–”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Rock Lee made the reservation for us,” Tenten explains.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh!” She puts her hand to her heart, sighing. They must have gotten on swimmingly over the phone, she and Lee. “How sweet of him to book it for you! You’re lucky to have a friend like that.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lucky” is not the word Neji would use, nor would he be so generous as to describe Lee as “sweet” in this moment. “Meddlesome”, perhaps, or “vile”.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I suppose,” he replies through gritted teeth. Tenten elbows him rather roughly in the arm.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The hostess either misses this or ignores it; Neji is not sure which. “I’ll show you to your room.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He and Tenten follow her down the dark, winding hallway, warm and candlelit and so frustratingly mood-setting that Neji can hardly stand it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My, you’re a lovely couple. How long have you been together?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He feels his face grow hot. “Oh, uh, you see–”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A couple years,” Tenten lies, taking his hand and tapping a message into it – <em>play along. </em>“We needed a getaway.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” says the hostess.</span> <span class="s1"> She turns and slides open the door to their tiny guest room, which has space for a low table laden with tea and cookies, cushions on which they can sit, and not much else. The ancient oil heater in the corner of the room groans; Neji’s inclined to agree with it, looking at the size of the room alone. It is nicely furnished, and the view from their window is stunning, but there is no getting around the fact that he and Tenten will practically be sleeping on top of each other once the futons are rolled out…</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Dinner is in an hour. Can I help you with anything else before then?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The bath?” he asks, for his chest is starting to ache from the long journey here. He tries not to think too much about the other problem presented by Lee’s absence – depending on how the bath is structured, it may be difficult for Neji to get in and out of it on his own.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Down that way,” the hostess advises. She seems to be riding the same train of thought as he is, because she adds, “It’s very private. If you need your wife to accompany you, we can–”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks so much,” says Tenten, at the same time that Neji stammers, “No, no, that won’t be, uh, it’s fine. I’ll just–”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten shoots him a look before turning back to the hostess. “Sorry about him, ma’am. My <em>husband</em> is a bit of an idiot.” She winks. “You know how it is.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji has no idea what she means by that, but the hostess seems to understand immediately “how it is”, because she and Tenten begin giggling like teenagers.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’ll see you at dinner,” the hostess says by way of a farewell, snickering all the while, and then she disappears down the hall. Neji watches her go, bewildered, until Tenten opens her mouth to say...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry,” Tenten whispers, “I wasn’t sure if she’d be judgmental or whatever if she knew we weren’t a thing.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That much Neji had ascertained for himself; it’s the giggling that still has him thrown. “What was the laughter all about?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, that. She thinks you’re my trophy husband.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...trophy husband.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, you know.” Tenten grins impishly. “Hot, brainless...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I know what a trophy husband is,” Neji says, unbothered by her second descriptor as he allocates all his mental energy to fixating on the first - </span> <span class="s2"> <em>does Tenten think he’s hot?</em> </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Could’ve fooled me,” she quips. She doesn’t seem to notice his crisis over her word choice, just sets her bags down and starts settling in like she’d only told him that snow is cold.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Speaking of cold, the little room is freezing. Neji sets himself to fiddling with the oil heater as Tenten unpacks her things, the soft <em>poof </em>of her opening scroll after scroll the only sound he hears until she swears under her breath.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I think I left my hairbrush at home,” she moans in frustration.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just use mine,” he tells her. “It should be in my bag somewhere.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">Behind him, Neji hears her drop her own bag and take up his. “I’ve never understood how you pack like this.”</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You always know you have everything when you can see it laid out,” Neji replies, finally satisfied with the amount of warmth emanating from the heater and turning his attention to the window, frosted over in feathered strokes as if painted with a fan brush. “All your scrolls look the same.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“To you, maybe.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“To you, too, obviously, or else you’d have all your things.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, <em>wow</em>, good one,” Tenten groans, and then the sound of her rummaging through his bag stops, replaced by a quiet crinkling.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, uh, Neji?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wh-what did you pack <em>these</em> for?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looks over his shoulder to see Tenten, red in the face, with one hand on her hip and the other holding a rapidly unfurling roll of…</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji has almost met his end twice in his life, at ages fourteen and eighteen. Now, at age twenty-two, he figures he must have been due for another near-death experience.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s his only explanation for the condoms that Tenten brandishes at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can assure you I did <em>not</em> pack those,” Neji swears. “That’s…Hinata’s bag, I borrowed it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Both of these statements are true, but together they make a miserably flimsy counter. Or so he thinks, until a mischievous grin spreads across Tenten’s face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You didn’t notice them in here?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten makes a long, amused “hmm”, repacking the condoms and continuing her search for his hairbrush as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji is growing rather tired of feeling out of the loop. “What.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t tell you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dread, heavy and cold, seeps into his bones at her words. He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t toy with me.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, this is Hinata’s bag, right? And you definitely didn’t pack these?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This is quickly becoming the worst day of Neji’s life.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Does <em>Neji-niisan </em>really want to know who Hinata is fu–”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“<em>Stop talking</em>,” he commands, because the only thing worse than the thought of his cousin being intimate with anyone is hearing the words “Neji-niisan” pass Tenten’s lips. He can’t wait for <em>that</em> one to show up uninvited to an idle fantasy, a passionate dream of her – oh, <em>no.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What will he do if he dreams about her <em>here, like that</em>?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re such a wimp,” Tenten teases, mistaking his sickly expression for prudishness. She glances out the window at the darkening sky, taking down her hair and combing it out. “It’s getting late. Where did the hostess say the bath was, again?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Oh, <em>perfect</em>, the thought of Tenten in the bath with him. That ought to help.</span> <span class="s1">“I’m fine, really. We can just stay here. Some tea will do me good.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No way,” Tenten argues. “I’m not gonna have you wake up tomorrow all achey and grumpy and not wanting to do anything. You’re getting in that bath.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When his panic clamps his mouth shut, Tenten sighs, crossing her arms.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know I’m not gonna…come on.” She turns a bit pink. “I won’t be weird about it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He knows she won’t. They’ve had years of practice ignoring the flashes of each other’s skin at the periphery of their vision, after training or on days-long missions. But there is something undeniably </span><span class="s2">different</span> <span class="s1">between them when they’re alone. A question that hangs in the air between them, begging to be answered. A gravity drawing him closer to her with every breath (but never close enough).</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And if he feels that pull when there is nothing between them but steaming water and the cool night air...can he count on his fears alone to keep him still, or will confession after confession pour out of him as he tries to close that distance?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Separately,” he insists. “I can take care of myself.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you hurt yourself, I’ll kick your ass,” she warns him, but the issue is as close to dropped as it’s likely to be.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You have my express permission,” he assures her as he follows her out, praying to anyone who might be listening that the universe will continue to cut him a break.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten lingers at the entryway to the showers, her clothes clutched tightly to her chest.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m right over there if you need me,” she reminds him – waiting longer, so much longer than is necessary – and then she disappears into the ladies’ showers</span>.</p><p class="p1">But his prayers seem to have been answered. The open-air onsen is thankfully graduated enough that Neji thinks perhaps he’ll be alright on his own. He rests his cane against the wall and eases himself into the hot water slowly, supporting himself on the rocky edge of the spring.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Snow blankets the stones, the trees, the high wooden wall that separates the two bathing areas. He's seen nothing like this since before the war – Konoha so rarely gets cold enough for snow to fall. Neji lets his body sink deeper into the soothing heat, his sore muscles and the chill of the air on his skin negated by the warm water.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He might actually have to thank Lee for this experience, provided he survives the trip.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">On the other side of the partition, he hears Tenten enter the spring, making a little noise of contentment that cuts through his senses like a thrown senbon. A deluge of images flood Neji’s mind without warning: Tenten’s head tipped back against the wood, her eyes fluttering shut, her bare skin flushed from her hairline down to the swell of her breasts, just barely visible above the surface of the steaming water.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is nice,” she sighs. “Lee’s missing out.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He really is. The thin layer of clouds from earlier in the evening has given way to perfectly clear skies. There’s not even any moonlight to distract from the pitch-black tapestry above them, embroidered with stardust and pinpricked with brightness all over. If he’s not careful, Neji could fall asleep here.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How are you doing over there?” she asks through the wall.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alas, I’ve died,” he replies drily. “If only Lee had been here to save me. Give him my love, will you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“No death jokes,” Tenten orders, and he can almost hear Lee echo her like he normally would. Neji is emphatically </span> <span class="s2"><em>not</em> </span> <span class="s1">allowed to joke about his own death, but occasionally he cannot resist.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll stop making them when you stop coddling me.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">An irritated <em>tsk</em>, and nothing more. Neji lifts his head, gazing up at the inky, star-speckled night, trying to pick out the myriad constellations that Tenten had taught him when they were young. He thinks he sees it, the kimono sleeve of the Huntress, and he opens his mouth to tell Tenten what he’s spotted but she shouts:</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh! Shooting star!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji’s eyes scan the sky, but there’s no movement to be seen. “I don’t see anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She groans dramatically. “</span><span class="s2">This</span> <span class="s1">is why we should be on the same side.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you were over here, you wouldn’t have seen it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Exactly. We </span><span class="s2"><em>both</em></span> <span class="s1">would’ve missed it. It’s not fair that I saw it and you didn’t.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did you make a wish, at least?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um…” He hears the water slosh; Neji imagines her putting her closed fist to her lips, thinking. “No. I don’t know what I’d wish for.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There’s nothing you want?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean, I want…things,” Tenten says slowly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji lets her trail off. The wind blows, picking up the snowflakes that haven’t clung tight enough to the places they landed. Neji watches them fall one by one into the spring, melting away as they touch the water’s surface, for several minutes before he finally hears Tenten ask, “What would you wish for?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He exhales heavily. “That is a question.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">There are a number of things Neji </span><span class="s2">could</span> <span class="s1">wish for – his father alive, his cursed seal disappeared, his body healed – but he doesn’t think a shooting star would be able to provide any of them. Neji doesn’t wish, on principle. He either does or accepts what is.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">And he has been doing. It is slow-going, but his and his cousins’ needling of the clan elders seems to be starting to bear fruit; the removal of the cursed seals is becoming less of an </span> <span class="s2"> <em>if</em></span><span class="s1">, more of a </span> <span class="s2"> <em>when</em></span><span class="s1">. He misses the things his body could do before the war, but Neji does not regret throwing himself in front of Hinata, not for a second. He’s seen the dead risen and thinks he’d rather let his father rest.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The only thing left he’d wish for, then, is just on the other side of this wall…</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll have to think on it,” Neji answers.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lame.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You didn’t tell me,” he points out.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He knows exactly what face she’s making when he hears her frustrated “hmph” – eyes narrowed, mouth quirked to one side of her face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, okay,” she grumbles.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Another minute or two of quiet, and then:</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My grandmother always used to say people are made of star stuff,” Tenten tells him. “That all the pieces of us started out there and that’s why we’re so obsessed with the stars. Like, we want to go back, but we can’t.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You think it’s bullshit,” Tenten observes, the playful edge in her voice cut with something sharp, defensive.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not as harsh as all that, but it’s much harder to believe that kind of thing when he’s able to see exactly what makes people tick with a blink of his eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I think I’ve heard stranger things,” Neji answers.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He’s never felt any such pull to the heavens. Stargazing makes him feel grounded, if anything. Firm in his connections to the people he has </span> <span class="s2"> <em>here</em></span><span class="s1">.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(To Tenten, in particular, who has loved them so for as long as he’s known her, has found significance in them that Neji couldn’t have dreamed up if he’d been given a lifetime to interpret them.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She would’ve liked you,” says Tenten. “She liked skeptics.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did she?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She liked proving them wrong.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah, so that’s where you get it from,” Neji quips.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten laughs. “You love it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"> <em>I do</em></span><span class="s1">, he thinks he’d say, if he were brave. </span> <span class="s2"> <em>I love everything about you. You’re perfect</em>.</span><span class="s2"><em>I’ve loved you so long I don’t remember the things I wanted before I realized I wanted you.</em> </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">But it is so much easier, so much safer to love her in his head than to love her out loud. </span>So Neji rests his weary bones in the warm water, and sits in silence instead of responding to her, and lets his treacherous heart pound, pound, pound its yearning in his chest.</p><p class="p1">It’s only another day or two, after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Virginity is a heteronormative construct with no inherent meaning or value. With that in mind: they’re turbovirgins, Your Honor.</p><p>Content advisories for this one are also few! The warnings from last chapter still mostly apply, and I will advise you to please mind the newly added tags for the explicit content herein.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they return to their room after dinner, Neji almost wants to chastise Tenten for playing at being his partner, because the sweet hostess has only rolled out one double futon. No other is in sight.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’ll be fine,” Tenten says. “Not much different than normal, really.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neither of them acknowledges that their “normal” co-sleeping arrangement includes Lee sprawled out between them, and that sleeping together on their own is an entirely different, unexplored animal. And maybe Neji is projecting his own desires onto the room, but with their bedding laid out, the atmosphere of the space comes dangerously close to “love nest” territory. The blankets are frustratingly plush, inviting; the only light in the room comes from the fire that burns in the oil heater, forcing them to light candles in order to see properly. The romance of it is suffocating.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll just change over here,” Tenten tells him, pointing at the corner of the room as if it is far enough away to be considered an “over here” instead of a “directly in front of you”.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay,” he answers, taking his own pajamas to the opposite corner. “Just let me know when you’re, ah, decent.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It’s nothing they haven’t seen before, but they both shyly turn away from each other to change regardless. It only helps Neji so much, for in their mutual silence, every other sound they make feels ten times louder. The soft snap of the clasp of Tenten’s bra alone is enough to start Neji’s mind racing down indecent paths. Even focusing on stripping down himself (one-handed, steadying himself with his cane) isn’t safe. Just the sensation of his hand on his own body becomes frustratingly pleasurable, as does the unbidden thought that Tenten could be watching him undress - which she would </span> <span class="s2">never </span> <span class="s1">do, but perhaps if he gave her permission...</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m good,” she calls.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Neji turns around and stifles a groan. Of course, of </span> <span class="s2">course</span> <span class="s1"> Tenten brought her tiniest sleep shorts, the hem of which rides so high up her hips that Neji thinks she may as well be wearing nothing at all. The tank top she sports has a neckline that dips low, the thin fabric draped loosely over her curves. When she raises her arms to undo her buns, Neji catches a glimpse of the underside of her breast and has to look away quickly, trying to think of the least arousing thing he can. The sickly soft texture of simmered pumpkin. A teary-eyed Lee raving about youth. The clack of shogi pieces on wood as Shikamaru runs policy by him.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s turned to face him. Confusion furrows her brow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m okay,” he replies shakily.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So the scandalized look on your face is for...what?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Is that how arousal looks on him? Fantastic.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing. Just...you won’t be cold?” he asks, gesturing to her ensemble.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh. I’ll be fine. I normally sleep in, um...” She looks away from him. “Less.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s2">Don’t change your habits on my account</span></em>
  <span class="s1">, he thinks wickedly, before his embarrassment quiets his mind.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten looks like she’s embarrassed herself as well, somehow, considering how quickly she turns away from him again. “Oh! I almost forgot, let me get your, um. Your pillow.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reaching into her bag, she opens up the scroll that contains the wedge pillow that he needs to sleep comfortably. His mouth goes dry as he watches her place the pillow, adjust the sheets like the doting partner she’s been pretending to be all evening. He struggles to ignore the surge of affection for her that tugs insistently at his heartstrings.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Perhaps Neji does not mind being coddled, occasionally.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sits back on her heels and smiles up at him. “Okay. Bed?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Swallowing the tender lump in his throat - he has got to stop hoping this intimacy between them could possibly last beyond this trip - Neji nods his agreement. He rests his cane against the wall and grips her shoulder with one hand, holds her hand with the other, lowering himself onto the ground to sit on the futon. This close to her, Neji catches the scent of her shampoo, that same sweet-crisp pear and apple that he’s caught in passing for years. It could be summer in their little room, between the heat and her, scent memories of mid-afternoon spars and walks down sun-dappled forest paths wafting in and out of his head. Tenten smells so terribly like </span> <span class="s2"><em>home</em>. </span><span class="s1">It is all Neji can do not to stop and breathe her in.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She winces quietly when he lets go of her steadying hands, rolling her right shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What is it?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lugging my bag around all day,” Tenten complains. “I think I’ve got a pinched nerve or something. It’s coming and going.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I can look at it,” Neji replies, ignoring the insistent </span> <em><span class="s2">thump, thump, thump</span></em> <span class="s1"> of his pulse in his ears as he pats the space on the futon in front of him. “Come here.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She fiddles with the hem of her shirt. “Yeah, okay. Sure.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten settles on the futon before him, her posture unusually stiff. Slowly, he brushes her hair over her shoulder to get it out of his way. The straps on her tank are narrow enough that her shoulders and upper back are practically bare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m going to use my kekkei genkai for just a second, to see where the trouble is,” he explains. “Is that okay?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I trust you,” she replies.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wouldn’t, if she knew.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s about to activate his Byakugan when she asks, a little frantically, “Do you need me to take my shirt off, or can I leave it on?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“What? No, no, leave your shirt on,” he stammers, blushing. He can see what’s happening under her skin, clothes or no. Which he </span> <em><span class="s2">knows</span></em> <span class="s1"> she knows.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right, okay,” she breathes, turning back around. “I thought maybe, if you were going to massage...never mind.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Thank goodness she’s not looking at him anymore. Neji can feel the second of the Hyuuga clan’s curses turning his whole body a flaming red.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He activates his Byakugan. Scanning her body for anomalies (and nothing else - he is a gentleman, no matter the increasingly provocative circumstances), he spies the offending nerve, just beside her shoulder blade. He reaches out to massage it, but when he touches her...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he touches her, Tenten’s chakra network lights up, sending crackles of energy down to the base of her spine. He draws back. Then tries again, rubbing circles between her shoulder blades, and it happens again, wispy little jolts of her chakra weaving their way down her spine, up to her heart, pooling at her center. Her back arches as a shudder travels through her; Neji watches, mesmerized, as her entire chakra network gleams.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you alright?” he asks softly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s a touch out of breath when she says, “Huh?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your chakra,” he sighs. “It’s...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It is </span> <em><span class="s2">beautiful</span></em><span class="s1">. A light show beyond anything he’s ever seen. She’s so responsive to his every touch, each press of his fingers sparking an aurora-like shimmer across her body. Her grandmother may well have been right; as he watches each little flare of her chakra travel down her spine like a comet, he could almost believe Tenten really could be made of stardust. Maybe that’s why she’s always looking to the heavens for guidance. To think, this little cosmos in her body, called by planets and stars far beyond their understanding, now answering to something as insignificant as his hands -</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That thought wrenches something wicked from deep inside him, a possessive determination that she is </span> <em><span class="s2">his, his, his. </span></em><span class="s1">Tenten makes a tiny sound that he thinks she may be trying to hide, a restrained hum of pleasure that has Neji half-hard in moments.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Could he make her moan, if he - </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“N-Neji?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">That doesn’t help at </span> <em><span class="s2">all</span></em><span class="s1">, hearing her call his name like that. “Yes?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I don’t think I can sleep in the same bed as you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He withdraws his hands immediately, blinks his kekkei genkai away. Would that he could will his desire for her away just as quickly. “Oh.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s not...you didn’t do anything wrong,” she says hastily. “I just...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Was it revulsion he’d seen dancing across her skin? It can’t have been; Tenten is leaning back, sighing gently, her hands fisting in the sheets.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just,” Tenten repeats helplessly. She won’t look at him. “It’s different, when...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“When we’re alone,” he posits, suddenly aware of how close he is to her, realizing halfway through the motion that he’s leaning into her, letting his hand trail down her arm...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah,” she breathes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji suddenly feels as though he’s at a crossroads with only one path cleared, the way behind him blocked. He can’t stay still forever.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji exhales, leans in closer, and takes that first step.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hesitantly, he presses his lips to the back of Tenten’s neck. Then to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, then to her jaw, then to her cheek. She turns her head; his lips brush against the corner of her open mouth, and then she is twisting around, shifting just enough that she can look him in the eyes. Longing. He tilts his head, watches as she mirrors him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Finally, finally, </span> <em><span class="s2">finally</span></em><span class="s1">, Neji kisses her.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He’s been dreaming of this moment for ages: heated after a spar, tentative beneath the night sky, leisurely in the grass. None of Neji’s fantasies can hold a candle to the reality of her in his arms. Her lips are slightly chapped from the cold, moving against his with an urgency that threatens to undo him. Cupping her face in his trembling hands, Neji exhales heavily through his nose, feeling her relax into his touch. He thinks he’d be content just to do this all night long: to card his fingers through her hair, to kiss her breathless until the sun comes up. To take his </span> <em><span class="s2">time</span></em><span class="s1">. He wants to draw out every second that she lets his mouth slide over hers.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten doesn’t seem to agree; she’s repositioning herself to straddle him, and suddenly the air between them shifts, the romance of the moment turning to a hunger that claws, that aches. Her hands are </span> <em><span class="s2">everywhere</span></em><span class="s1">, her mouth just as bold as she breaks away from his lips to suck at the skin above his collar. Her wantonness is thrilling, and yet an inkling of fear strikes him:</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">What if that’s all this is to her? A fleeting, entirely circumstantial passion? Does she realize how much this means to him?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait,” Neji gasps, forcing himself to pull away from her. “Do you want me?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten drags out the “what” in her quietly incredulous response: “What are you talking about?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean…don’t look at me like that, Tenten, I can obviously tell you want...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2">Why</span> <span class="s1"> won’t the word “sex” come out of his mouth? He’s got Tenten practically in his lap, and yet he’s still stumbling over the word like he’s twelve years old.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(God, he hopes she doesn’t like dirty talk.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What I mean to say is that I have feelings for you,” he says quickly. “And if you’re just caught up in all...this.” He gestures to the room at large. “I would understand, but...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But he’d have to stop, because Neji cannot learn the curves of her body, how she tastes, the sounds she makes when she comes...and go home never to experience them again. She makes him greedy. He wants her all to himself, in body and mind and heart.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten blinks, stunned.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You...do you think I just want to </span> <span class="s2">use</span> <span class="s1"> you for </span> <span class="s2">sex</span> <span class="s1">?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He shivers involuntarily at her word choice. It’s not what he wants in isolation, but the idea of her using him like something she can pull out of a drawer when she needs relief is more tempting than it has any right to be. Perhaps they ought to put a pin in that instead of dismissing it entirely.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten sighs, taking his face in her hands. “You </span> <em><span class="s2">are</span></em> <span class="s1"> stupid.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She brushes his hair out of his eyes. Holds his gaze for a long moment. Then she’s kissing him again: slowly, deliberately, like she’s trying to pass along a message with each swipe of her tongue and touch of her hands. Even chest to chest, Tenten keeps trying to pull him closer, tighter to her, like they’ll never be close enough. When his hand brushes against hers, Tenten squeezes it, lacing their fingers together.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Neji </span> <em><span class="s2">is </span></em> <span class="s1">stupid. How had he </span> <span class="s2">missed </span> <span class="s1">this?</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He is so dazed when Tenten breaks their kiss that he doesn’t process her crossing her arms in front of her body to draw her shirt over her head. Neji, therefore, makes no effort to lean away from her and is rewarded with a blow to his chin from her elbow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry! Are you okay?” she cries, tossing her shirt aside hastily.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji does not respond. He has made the mistake of letting his gaze drop to her breasts and can no longer form a coherent thought. Peacetime seems to have softened everything about Tenten but her sharp tongue; while still pert and small, her breasts are almost certainly heavier than they once were, the weight of them enticing as he cups them experimentally. He can still feel the wiry muscles of her arms, her core (for she and Lee still train together sometimes, Neji modifying where he can and providing commentary where he can’t). But they are a bit less visible, concealed by a soft layer of fat born of the things she’d been denied in her youth - an extra daifuku after dinner, nights out with friends that come more than once in a blue moon, just one moment’s quiet to nap in the sun. The hint of that softness peeking over the waistband of her shorts is hypnotizing, making him hungrier for what lies beneath them...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji cannot help himself. He surges forward to leave wet, open-mouthed kisses down the column of her throat, trailing down the valley between her breasts. Neji takes one of her nipples into his mouth and rolls the other between his fingers, moaning as Tenten’s responding whimper travels straight to his groin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So I guess you’re okay, then?” Tenten sighs, tugging at his hair and drawing a mortifying, eager sound from him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span> <em> <span class="s2">Ah,</span> </em> <span class="s1"> yes,” he answers. “I’m fine.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her clever fingers make quick work of his shirt’s buttons, shrugging the garment open and groping at his chest, his shoulders, nails gently scraping down his back. He lets his own hands trail lower, stopping just at that perfect little curve of her belly. His fingers hook around the waistband of her shorts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can I touch you?” he gasps. “Please.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She hums a soft, greedy</span> <span class="s2"> mmph </span> <span class="s1">against his temple. “Yeah. Yes.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With one last fierce kiss, Tenten rises up onto her knees to grant him better access. He reaches down to tentatively touch her through her shorts, finding the light fabric so damp with her arousal that he nearly curses.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span> <span class="s2"><em>Tenten</em>,</span> <span class="s1">” Neji chokes. “You’re so...</span> <em> <span class="s2">hah</span> </em> <span class="s1">...”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I was worrying about this all night,” Tenten admits. “Maybe not worrying. Thinking.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Anticipating,” he supplies, in a tone he hopes is helpful. She </span> <span class="s2">hates </span> <span class="s1">being corrected. “So was I.”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He can feel that anticipation when he slips his fingers past her shorts, gently pushes her panties out of his way. She is all but dripping wet, her delicate folds so soft beneath his fingertips. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Like this?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you just...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She takes his hand in hers, positions two of his fingers at her entrance and his thumb against her clit. Automatic, practiced - someone has obviously touched her like this before.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He throws reassurance after dousing reassurance over the tiny flare of jealousy now burning behind his ribs. It’s Neji whom Tenten wants right now, Neji for whom she’s spreading her legs...and Neji is not considered a genius for nothing. If there is anything he knows how to do, it’s </span> <span class="s2"><em>learn</em>. </span> <span class="s1">Discover things others have overlooked. There must be things Tenten doesn’t yet know about her body; Neji intends to find them.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Determined, Neji pushes into her and groans - if she lets him make love to her tonight, he has no hope of lasting for more than a few thrusts. She yields to his fingers so easily, slick as she is, but there is a pleasurable tightness, a comfortable pressure enveloping him that feels too good already. He strokes the ridges he finds delicately and she practically mewls, digging her nails into his shoulders.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good?” he pants.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She nods fervently, rolls her hips, matching the rhythm of his hand as he rubs gently at her clit.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“It’s...</span><em><span class="s2">unh</span></em><span class="s1">, </span> <em><span class="s2">fuck</span></em><span class="s1">, it’s so much better when it’s you.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He </span> <em><span class="s2">has</span></em> <span class="s1"> to be allowed to feel self-satisfied about a declaration like that, hasn’t he?</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is that so?” Neji purrs, peppering kisses along her collarbone and mentally offering his insincere condolences to her former lover.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten laughs breathily into his hair. “Don’t get a big head over it. I’ve been getting myself off without you for ages.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">...</span> <span class="s2"><em>oh</em>.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The realization that he is touching Tenten the same way that she touches herself is so intellectually stimulating that Neji briefly considers putting their lovemaking on hold to discuss it in depth. He has a </span> <span class="s2">number</span> <span class="s1"> of questions. Perhaps a demonstration is in order, so he can really nail the concept down. Visual learning has always suited him best.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But Tenten whimpers so close to his ear, apparently undone by his experimental curl of his fingers inside her, and every thought in his head simply dissipates into nothingness.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Neji,</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">” she whines, fucking herself harder on his fingers. “L-lie down.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The gentle push of her hands at his shoulders, lightly prompting him to lie back on his pillow, is entirely unnecessary. Neji is more than happy to comply with any request Tenten will make of him this evening.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sits back on his thighs, gaze dropping to the bulge that strains at his pants. Tentatively, Tenten palms him through the fabric; Neji’s eyes briefly flutter shut as she traces the outline of it with her index finger.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She seems to deliberate for a few long moments, but once she’s made up her mind, she fumbles for the waistband of his sleep pants, tugging them down just enough to expose his achingly hard cock.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Oh</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">,” Tenten breathes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji resists the urge to cover himself with his hands. What on earth is he supposed to glean from an “oh”? Does she not like what she sees?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?” he asks.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She looks him in the eyes; her pupils are blown impossibly wide. “Oh, I, um. You look...really good, like this.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh. Ah. Thank you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Y-You’re welcome.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They stare at each other for a moment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji swallows. “Do you want to - “</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah,” Tenten replies quickly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji does not have to be told twice; he lifts his hips to tug his sleep pants down, Tenten yanking them the rest of the way down his legs and tossing them carelessly onto the floor. Her own shorts prove more difficult to remove in her current position. She ends up having to roll over onto her back beside him to shimmy them off, kicking them to the edge of the futon as she climbs back on top of him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They can communicate so much with just a look, have sent silent correspondence to one another since they were young; he knows she can hear his wordless, desperate plea for her to make love to him. But she hesitates, eyeing the scars across his chest.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You won’t hurt me,” Neji assures her. “Just don’t put your weight on my chest.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you sure? I could just...”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten trails downward, leaving kisses down his chest, lingering on each divot of his deep, jagged scars...stopping just below his navel and </span> <em><span class="s2">oh, </span><span class="s2">she certainly could just...</span></em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That wasn’t what he wanted, was it? He can’t remember. The feel of Tenten’s breath ghosting over him makes it rather difficult for him to think of anything but her lips, her tongue. He tries to tell her, but all he can manage is, “I...</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">ah</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Yeah?” she asks, and then she is licking a long, wet stripe along the underside of his cock, making it </span> <span class="s2">so </span> <span class="s1">much harder for him to say - </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Nnnh</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">, no, I want...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t know how to phrase it. He wants her to ride him until he can barely breathe? Fuck him almost to tears?</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I want to be inside you” is what he finally settles on, the tamest way he can think of to ask for what he’s craving. It’s apparently not tame enough, for Tenten starts blushing despite having him halfway in her mouth already. She crawls back up to him, caging him between her arms, kissing him with the mouth that was just on his cock, </span> <em><span class="s2">God, </span></em><span class="s1">she’s perfect...</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then he feels her dragging her wet folds along the length of him, and his mind goes entirely blank. Neji blindly gropes at her ass, instinct taking full control of his hips as he rolls them against hers, desperate to bring her closer, make her move faster. Tenten reaches down to take him in her hand, but something stops her.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Condom,” she says suddenly. Disentangling herself from his embrace, Tenten hurries to rummage through his bag; once she’s found a condom (and a small bottle from her own bag that he </span> <em><span class="s2">needs </span></em> <span class="s1">to remember to ask about later), Tenten all but tumbles onto the bed in her haste to get back on top of him. Neji wills himself not to think about from whence the condom came as she tears the little package open with her teeth.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hurriedly, Tenten tries to roll the condom on - Neji barely keeps himself from whimpering as she wraps her fingers around his cock - but she rushes the action so much that it takes her a few tries to get it on.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to his covered forehead, scrambling to heat a small amount of lubricant between her hands. Then she’s bringing her body down closer to his own, taking his cock in her slick hands and pumping once, twice.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes?” she asks.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji could almost beg for her, but he forces himself to keep some shred of his dignity intact while he can. “Yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She slowly guides him into her - even now, even with the thin barrier of the condom separating them, Tenten feels so impossibly soft and warm that Neji can’t hold back a moan. Her own breathing is erratic, labored as she lowers herself onto him further, fully sheathing him inside her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is that okay?” she asks.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2"><em>Is that okay, she asks</em>.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Yes,</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">” he whines.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten sighs dreamily. “Awesome.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s almost funny how eager she is, but Neji is so far gone already that his only focus is on staving off his own orgasm for as long as possible, on doing whatever he can to help Tenten get there before he does.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a prospect that looks more unlikely by the second. Especially when she finally starts to move.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><em>It’s not going to happen</em>, </span> <span class="s1">he warns himself as Tenten leans down to capture his mouth with her own, stifling the groan that she draws from him, his broken call of her name.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You’re </span> <span class="s2">loud</span><span class="s1">,” she teases, rolling her hips again, and </span> <em><span class="s2">oh God, she’s too much, he is going to come any moment now.</span></em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I...</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">hah</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji cries out, claps a hand to his mouth to muffle himself, but Tenten takes him by the wrist and pins his hand beside his head.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span><em><span class="s2">Oh</span></em> <span class="s1"> no. I want to hear </span> <em><span class="s2">that.</span></em><span class="s1">”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji groans in frustration. “</span>
  <span class="s2"><em>Tenten</em>.</span>
  <span class="s1">”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s it,” she purrs, and Neji nearly comes from her words alone, the way her tone and their positioning feels like the playful spars he hadn’t realized he missed so much.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His self-control rapidly fading in the face of the climax building within him, Neji takes Tenten by her hips, holds her still and thrusts hard into her. She yelps, staring down at him in disbelief.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry,” he stammers, humiliated. “Are you - “</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“</span>
  <em>
    <span class="s2">Do that again</span>
  </em>
  <span class="s1">,” she sighs, fisting her hands in his hair.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...there is simply no saying no to that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He holds her tighter and does as he’s bid, barely pulling out of her but moving deep with each stroke. In no time at all, Tenten’s contented sighs turn to strangled moans as she grinds down on him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Oh, </span> <em><span class="s2">fuck</span></em><span class="s1">, Neji,” she whispers against his lips.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The filthy sound of their sweat-slick skin coming together again and again echoes through their tiny room. Neji breathes her in deep, laves his tongue over her pulse point to taste the salt on her skin, is made delirious by her so soft and wet around him. He eagerly drinks in her every curse, every broken moan, each one dancing down his spine just like the perfect flashes of light he’d seen traveling down Tenten’s own body.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What must it look like now, now that she‘s rocking harder against him and whimpering his name –</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span><span class="s2"><em>Fuck</em>, </span> <span class="s1">oh </span> <em><span class="s2">fuck</span></em><span class="s1">, Neji, </span> <em><span class="s2">yes</span></em><span class="s1">.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She arches her back, shifts her hips to change the angle. She’s more beautiful now than he’s ever seen her, with her hair disheveled and her pretty lips parted and that tantalizing flush that creeps down her neck. The </span> <span class="s2">nerve</span> <span class="s1"> of him to even </span> <em><span class="s2">think</span></em> <span class="s1"> earlier that Tenten belonged to him. He is unequivocally hers to use as she sees fit.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The roll of her hips pulls another groan from him; Tenten’s hips buck harder at the sound. “Neji, oh </span> <em><span class="s2">fuck, Neji</span></em><span class="s1">, I’m going to - “</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten is going to come, </span> <em><span class="s2">he’s</span></em> <span class="s1"> going to make her come, that’s all it takes for the pleasure coiling within him to snap suddenly taut. His perception narrows - to Tenten’s lips in his hair, to her soft, wet heat that envelops him, to the agonizing, delectable tension between his legs as he hangs on the edge of bliss -</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“</span><em><span class="s2">Tenten,</span></em><span class="s1">” he almost sobs, just as he falls </span> <span class="s2">hard</span> <span class="s1"> over that precipice, so overwhelmed by pleasure that he’s unable to maintain the steady rhythm that he knows Tenten needs. She breathes encouragement in his ear as she rides his stuttering hips, still chasing her own orgasm with a single-minded ferocity that he thinks would have brought him to his knees had he been standing. His pleasure turns almost to pain as he comes down from the high, but she’s </span> <em><span class="s2">so </span></em> <span class="s1">close. If he can just fuck her through it...</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tenten doesn’t scream when she comes. A stuttered moan, a soft, strangled cry, and then she is </span> <em><span class="s2">sighing, </span></em><span class="s1">gasping above him. He can feel her thighs shaking beneath his fingers as she clenches around him (the sensation of which is very, very close to pain, now, but Neji can’t bring himself to care). He urges her hips forward as the last waves of pleasure course through her body, as her heavy breathing finally starts to slow.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They gaze into one another’s eyes, in awe of each other. Tenten kisses him, lazy and sated, before lifting herself off of him, slipping the condom off and disposing of it in the wastebasket.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(He thinks her legs are still shaking as she walks back over, and simply cannot help the self-satisfied smirk that tugs at his lips.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tenten collapses onto her side of the futon. After a moment to catch her breath, she rolls onto her side to look at him, grinning widely.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hi,” she whispers playfully.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hi,” he replies.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That was fun.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It was.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We should do that again sometime.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’d be delighted to.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm,” she laughs, biting her lip. She takes his hand in hers, brushing her thumb along the back of it.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><em>I love you</em>, </span> <span class="s1">he wants to say, but he doesn’t think he has to. They’ve been communicating silently for years. Neji is sure she can hear him.</span></p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After the deepest sleep Neji thinks he has had in years, they wake up the next morning to a snowfall so heavy that they can hardly see out their window.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I doubt you’ll be able to go anywhere today,” the hostess tells them apologetically. “We’ll be snowed in for a while yet.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Aww, that’s too bad,” says Tenten without conviction. She taps a message into his palm so risqué that Neji has to bite his lip to keep his frustrated moan in his throat.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’ll keep ourselves entertained somehow,” Neji squeaks more than says, before Tenten closes the door and pushes him up against the wall.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He hopes Lee is having a </span> <em><span class="s2">phenomenal</span></em> <span class="s1"> weekend. The single best weekend of his </span> <span class="s2"><em>life</em>.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji most certainly is.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There is a very short and silly epilogue on the way, but this fic is otherwise complete! Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you’d like a visual, the village Neji and Tenten are visiting is based heavily on Shirakawa-go; the inn they’re staying in is modeled after the gassho-zukuri houses there!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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